Republican Tracie West wins District 2 State Board of Education seat

Republican Tracie West won the District 2 seat for State Board of Education over Democrat Adam Jortner in Tuesday’s election.

Incomplete and unofficial returns show West leading with more than 65 percent of the votes while Jortner finished with slightly more than 34 percent.

Ultimately, Tuesday night’s results reflected donations each party received throughout their race with West receiving $69,390 in donations compared to $19,015 for Jortner.

Jortner, a 42-year-old history professor at Auburn University, was making his first run for public office.

West, a 50-year-old small business owner, has served on the Auburn school board for nine years and spent the last two years as president.

She partially credits this experience with helping her win the District 2 seat.

“I think that my experience and my genuine concern for student achievement in Alabama is what voters wanted in this race, and I’m just very, very grateful to every voter who came out today,” West said.

During the campaign, West told voters that Alabama must focus on reading if it wants to see improvement in other areas of coursework. West said she would work to see that students have a safe, engaging learning environment, well-equipped teachers and a plan for when they leave high school.

After her victory, West said she is grateful that Alabamians in District 2 also believe that this is the right course of action for their children.

Jortner’s platform was built around securing Alabama schools without the addition of guns, implementing vocational programs, reducing class sizes, bettering communication between communities, schools and the State Board of Education and reducing standardized testing.

The last of which, Jortner still has plans to work on, despite losing the seat to West.

“This was the beginning of a long process, and I wish Mrs. West well on the State Board,” Jortner said. “Hopefully, we can all work together for some common-sense solutions that will reduce testing and help our students.”

The two were seeking an open seat created when Republican Betty Peters of Dothan decided not to seek another four-year term. District 2 stretches from Alexander City to Auburn and southward to Dothan and Enterprise.